Web annotation over a distributed network (a Mozilla Firefox extension)

Abstract

The system to be developed is a web annotation tool that will allow users to add annotations immediately on the web site they are viewing as well as share the annotations with other users without altering the pages' original content. This functionality will be available as part of a plug in which will be accessible in the Mozilla Firefox web browser. The main functionality of the method used is based on a P2Pnetwork, where sharing, searching and viewing of annotated websites as well as alerting users of any changes to already annotated websites are supported. Annotations can be defined as a mechanism that supports a variety of document-centric collaboration applications. The infinite amount of web content available on the internet and its almost ubiquitous characteristic motivates the need for a web annotation system that supports collaborative creation of web content. Annotation system implementations that use intermediation (i.e. connecting behavior extensions to the existing web infrastructure) techniques supported by the web are compatible with the current web infrastructure, and thus easily deployed. This paper describes our experience in building annotation systems using client-side and proxy-server based intermediation. The implementations point to areas where browsers and proxy-servers can be further opened up to better support annotation function.